A 65-year-old retired head teacher, Deaconess Helen Adewole, has shared a harrowing personal account of losing her daughter and two grandchildren within a matter of weeks in 2018 — a tragedy she says continues to push her into depression and emotional distress.
In an emotional interview with our correspondent, Deaconess Adewole recounted how her first daughter, Oluyemisi Kolawole, a 36-year-old trained nurse, died in September 2018 while seven months pregnant. Her death followed the controversial death of her son, Bolaji Kolawole, a sickle cell patient, after what the family claims was a harmful traditional cleansing ritual imposed by her husband’s family.
“Yemisi was seven months pregnant when she died. Before then, her little boy Bolaji had died just five days after a so-called spiritual cleansing. The family believed he was an Abiku, and she was pressured into rituals that involved incisions, herbal concoctions, and spiritual rites,” Adewole said.
Yemisi, who had been residing in the UK, reportedly returned to Nigeria to marry after pressure to settle down. According to her mother, she soon found herself subjected to cultural traditions that conflicted with her Christian beliefs and medical training.
Adewole said Yemisi and her sick son were forced by her husband’s family to undergo traditional rites in a local shrine, including the use of razors to make cuts on the child’s body and the administration of herbal concoctions. She was also forced to drink mixtures meant to protect her unborn baby, whom the family also feared would be an Abiku.
“She called to tell me what they had done — cutting my grandson and rubbing black powder into the wounds… they even circumcised her daughter during the rituals. Yemisi was helpless,” Adewole recounted.
Bolaji died on August 10, 2018, reportedly from blood loss and infection. Shortly after, Yemisi’s health deteriorated, and she was admitted to the Redeem Christian Church Hospital in Ede, Osun State, before being transferred to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso for advanced care.
Doctors reportedly recommended terminating the pregnancy to save Yemisi’s life, but her husband allegedly refused to give consent. She remained in critical condition for 16 days before she was operated on. Both Yemisi and the unborn baby died in early September 2018.
“She died a day after the baby was evacuated. She had gone into multiple organ failure. We fought to save her but lost both mother and child,” said Adewole.
Still grappling with the grief nearly seven years later, Adewole said the trauma has had a lasting impact on her mental health.
“It has not been easy. I’ve not been myself since I lost them. I’m still managing depression,” she admitted.
Adewole also reflected on her own painful experiences as a mother in the 1980s when her daughters Yemisi and Olufunke were subjected to female genital mutilation by her husband’s family, despite her protests. That history, she said, gives her a new appreciation for her second daughter, Olufunke, who fled an early marriage to protect her children from similar traditions.
“We thought Olufunke was rebellious when she fled with her kids. But now I thank God for her courage. She’s built a better life in the United States, studying nursing, and keeping her children safe,” she said.
When contacted for comment, Mr. Temitope Kolawole, the widower of the late Yemisi, repeatedly said, “No comment.”
Confirming the incident, the Divisional Police Officer of Owode Police Station, CSP Auna Abubakar, said investigations are ongoing.
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